San Francisco Unified School District
Work wellbeing score is 73 out of 100
3.7 out of 5 stars.
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San Francisco Unified School District Employee Reviews

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3.6Work-Life Balance
3.7Pay & Benefits
3.3Job Security & Advancement
3.2Management
3.4Culture

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franciscounifiedsandistrictteacherschoolstudentadministrator

District Offices of Payroll

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The most useful review selected by Indeed
I mean its alright. Work at the office everyday. Sometimes there isn't anything to do. Toxic workplace. Typically, everyone keeps to themselves. New management so things may change.
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Hr sucks stay away from the SOAR program

What is the best part of working at the company?Some schools are nice others are horrible. What is the most stressful part about working at the company?When you get attacked in fear of your life ask for help and you get yelled at and talked about in your face.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Depends where you work. Stay away from bad areas only work in well off areas it seems to be better and you will get in less trouble.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Depends on the location and who you’re working with. It can be cool or horrible.
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San Francisco Unified School District insights

Based on 58 survey responses
What people like
  • Supportive environment
  • Ability to learn new things
  • Clear sense of purpose

Meaningful Work and Dedicated Professionals

SFUSD has huge potential as an organization but needs to make its internal resources more efficient. Wonderful amazing staff and dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to serve students. The feeling of inclusion and equity is special. Diamond in the rough.
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Amazing educators!

The educators in San Francisco are brilliant, dedicated, hard working professionals. They are highly educated and trained, analytical and reflective.The biggest challenge is funding. The state needs to dedicate more resources to public education, especially in urban districts, so students get the services they need, so schools are fully resourced, and so educators don't burn out.
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SFUSD was a fun place to work

The nurses support each other making this a good place to work. There are a few challenges working with the San Francisco school district that I hope will be negotiated soon.
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Flexible and room for growth

Being a substitute teacher for SFUSD is very flexible. This is an especially good job if you are also a student teacher or are looking to become a teacher in the future.
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Under staffed

Empower system is terrible, no staff at district office. No one to talk over the phone if we need to speak with anyone on payroll, HR, benefits etc. all communication is through an email/submitting an online ticket for help. The district makes payroll mistakes.
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Hit and miss depending on school

Very competitive to be hired at a school that is pleasant to work for, and they proudly use their own weird system for applying instead of EdJoin that is infinitely easier and better. Pay is "good" relative to the rest of the US but not enough to rent more than an okay 1-bedroom in an okay neighborhood in San Francisco. If you have high other expenses like childcare or medical needs you will not be able to afford it without a second income. The schools are a hodge podge of whatever the families demand. Teachers are not really respected and you will be at the mercy of the current cohort of families and the principals. Guidance from the top is completely disengaged from actually working in a classroom. There is a vague "restorative justice" management system with no help or tools to put in place. Some curriculum is provided but is not always relevant to your students. Thankfully I haven't heard of anyone needing to submit lessons plans, but you do need to waste your time posting the standards.HR is very hard to get a hold of and routinely messes up paychecks and benefits. Know all your rights and keep advocating for them. The union is strong and very good. This is an okay district to work for overall. It will not be as cuishy as a nice suburban district where the families respect teachers and the education system. There is a lot of pushback and scrutiny under the name of including and empowering the families. There are a lot of problematic systemic factors in San Francisco that this indebted public education district is somehow expected to solve.
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Most of our students are willing to learn

Many students hangout in the hallways and cut their classes without any serious consequences. There needs to be more leadership and better administrative Management of the whole school.Most enjoyable part of the job is knowing that you are making a positive difference in the school and social lives of our students that are willing to learn.

Pros

Free lunches for students

Cons

No free lunches for teachers, paras, nor staff. We have to pay $5.50 per lunch daily if we want to eat cafeteria food.
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Great children but staff is too political

Low pay for the location of the schools. Teachers need to be able to pay their rent/mortgage if they want to work for the district. Prior to my departure from SFUSD, I heard they were building some homes for teachers to be able to rent but we don't know where those are.
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Jobs at San Francisco Unified School District

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Make sure you are at a well run school

Each school is so different. The principal and your co-workers really make a huge difference. District office and HR can be very difficult to get a hold of and get your needs taken care of.
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Important and necessary work that is not sustainable in its current paradigm

What is the best part of working at the company?The best part of working at SFUSD was working collaboratively with other educators, families, and students to contribute to the community.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?The most stressful part of working with SFUSD was that the size of the district made it difficult for oversight at the site level. As a result, incompetence (mismanagement) went unaddressed and unchecked.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?The work environment and culture vary from site to site. I experienced a disconnect between the mandates of the administration and the needs of the teachers, students, and families. The financial fiasco added another layer of stress to the worksite.What is a typical day like for you at the company?A typical day included working to meet students' academic, emotional, and social needs in an unpredictable and fast-paced setting while maintaining professionalism. The work was often isolating and emotionally taxing. The relationships with a few colleagues and families made it bearable when I was there.
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A Bit Toxic

It can be a good place to work if you're in one of the schools where there are few discipline problems. Otherwise, it's extremely difficult since there is little discipline. Students are coddled, shielded and enabled. Accountability is not a core value of the district. There is also a culture of bullying from administrators. Students and administrators are rarely held accountable.
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Great learning opportunity, but hard to stay longterm.

As a para educator, you're not expected to be the main teacher in the room which allows you to be more flexible and stay within the work boundaries you expect when signing up.From observing other staff, there's a huge difference in the people that spend long hours after the school days ends and those that leave right when the clock strikes. If you're looking to pursue a career in education, there's a ton of opportunities given the lack of interest in the field and professional development resources, but that also means sites will be understaffed and you'll be left with little time to yourself.
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Committed teachers and administrators, appreciative bilingual students

They recognized my qualifications and upgraded me to my own classroom teaching ESLThey were kind to staff and students with disabilitiesThe school lunches were upgraded where do improved students abilities
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Great place to get experience working with kids.

Great place to work if you want a career in education. I have a great supervisor, she is very supportive and wants to see her employees grow; even if it means moving on.

Pros

Great benefits

Cons

Classified staff are not paid year round
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Very supportive work culture, team focused while providing care and growth.

I was new to the work and received excellent support training, direction and encouragement. The work while being hands on was led by a team effort and group collaboration always focused on the students. A excellent part-time jod.

Pros

Positive work environment

Cons

None
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Decent place to work

SFUSD has amazing free health insurance! The Paras are hit or miss. Some really have the best interest of the kids in mind and others take it easy and know they are Union so they can never be fired.

Pros

Amazing health insurance

Cons

Can have lazy Co-workers
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Helping special education students be the best they can be

Very worthwhile work with special needs students. Each school is different. All schools accessible by public transportation. Given no training or info about various disabilities. Coworkers were kind and understanding. Administration okay, but difficult getting ahold of the correct person. Forgiving of mistakes. Need a lot of patience. Good way to get experience to qualify to work in private child development center.

Pros

Very worthwhile to help and learn from special students, teachers and other paraprofessionals were careful I got all my breaks, other paraprofessionals are great people, you can choose which schools to work in.

Cons

Some students’ situations break your heart, occasional disorganization about where you work in the school, difficult going to many unfamiliar schools at first.
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Horrible work-life balance

You must love teaching to do this job, because you will spend all your free time trying to finish everything you are supposed to do. Do not expect to have a life outside of your job.

Pros

Working with the kids

Cons

No work-life balance
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A great place to gain experience and move on

San Francisco Unified Schooldistrict provides education to SF public school children. It is a shame that the diversity of the district is not reflected in leadership. Culture is cut throat. Get your experience and move on.

Pros

Salary, benefits

Cons

Culture, politics
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Overall rating

Based on 133 reviews

Ratings by category

3.6 out of 5 stars for Work/Life Balance
3.7 out of 5 stars for Compensation/Benefits
3.3 out of 5 stars for Job Security/Advancement
3.2 out of 5 stars for Management
3.4 out of 5 stars for Culture

Ratings from women

2.8
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2.1Personal Development
4.3Career Opportunities
2.4Family Support
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